NAGGING God in Prayer
Do we think God has short term memory loss?
James 5:16 tells us of the power of the prayer of "a righteous man". We pray for those we know are in need of more help than we can offer. Intercessory prayer is not only powerful but it feels good to have done. Yet, if we truly believed that our prayer was heard then why do we repeat the prayer again the next day? Do we feel that asking for the same thing again and again will finally nag God into doing our bidding?
No. We ask repeatedly because we know that He has all the power. We ask repeatedly because we have short term memory loss. We want to keep reminding Him because we can't see the progress. It's like watching grass grow sometimes. We want patience and we want it NOW.
We ask more often when it is something completely out of our hands. When a loved one is sick we pray repeatedly. When someone is lost we pray repeatedly. It is said that volunteers for Habitat for Humanities projects routinely use far more nails than needed to do the job. It's because they can't bring themselves to believe that only a few nails will hold. More experienced carpenters know how many nails to use - a form of faith learned through trial and error.God doesn't have short term memory problems. We don't have short term memory problems. What we have is the insecurity of the Habitat volunteers. If one prayer will do then thousands will do faster. Faith, often gained through experience, teaches us that God heard it the first time and that the answer will come in HIS time. So arise from prayer with a smile not a frown. Know that you have turned all over to the only power in the universe capable of doing all.
Wilk
James 5:16 tells us of the power of the prayer of "a righteous man". We pray for those we know are in need of more help than we can offer. Intercessory prayer is not only powerful but it feels good to have done. Yet, if we truly believed that our prayer was heard then why do we repeat the prayer again the next day? Do we feel that asking for the same thing again and again will finally nag God into doing our bidding?
No. We ask repeatedly because we know that He has all the power. We ask repeatedly because we have short term memory loss. We want to keep reminding Him because we can't see the progress. It's like watching grass grow sometimes. We want patience and we want it NOW.
We ask more often when it is something completely out of our hands. When a loved one is sick we pray repeatedly. When someone is lost we pray repeatedly. It is said that volunteers for Habitat for Humanities projects routinely use far more nails than needed to do the job. It's because they can't bring themselves to believe that only a few nails will hold. More experienced carpenters know how many nails to use - a form of faith learned through trial and error.God doesn't have short term memory problems. We don't have short term memory problems. What we have is the insecurity of the Habitat volunteers. If one prayer will do then thousands will do faster. Faith, often gained through experience, teaches us that God heard it the first time and that the answer will come in HIS time. So arise from prayer with a smile not a frown. Know that you have turned all over to the only power in the universe capable of doing all.
Wilk
posted by Wilk | 7:38 AM
3 Comments:
Dear Pastor Wilk,
I pray repeatedly for the same people and events because I feel better when I do. I believe that my prayers result in greater efforts from me to be loving and caring, to remember those in need, and (hopefully) to contribute in some way to relieving their suffering, beyond just holding them in my own mind and heart.
I hope you and your family have a wonderful new year.
No reply?
My apologies for being tardy. You make a valid point about the effects that prayer has on the one doing the praying. Is that the result of God nagging us to make "greater efforts...to be loving and caring"? Or is it the beauty and power of transforming prayer in our lives? I vote for the latter.
I do know from personal experience that God repeats His requests to us if we fail to follow up on His will. Is that nagging? If praying for someone helps both the one praying and the one being prayed for then there really is no limit to the power we have at our finger tips when speaking to the Father.
Wilk
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